Page 41 of Dark

I ran my finger over the rim of my cup. “Yeah, well, he had his reasons. I had a lot of problems back then.”

“Tell me. I want to understand. No BS this time.”

“The silver kept me level. Without it, any sort of stress triggered my wolf. If there was a fight, if I was hooking up—”

“So the times before when you tried to quit—?”

My phone buzzed. I ignored it. “A couple of times in high school, I tried seeing if I could go without it for a few hours. Then a day. Once I made it nearly two. Started having blackouts, manic episodes. I wasn’t fully aware where I was, didn’t know what I was doing. Probably should have stopped then, but it wasn’t like I thought withdrawal was going to be some walk in the park, you know? Maybe I needed to push through. But then I threw a chair at River for, hell, I don’t even remember. Cal had to tackle me to the floor. Ben found out what I was doing and flipped out.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

My phone buzzed again. Two missed calls from August. I hit redial.

My brother picked up on the second ring. “We got problems.”

Throwing a few bills on the table, I nodded to the door. “Time to go.”

Back in my truck, I put August on speaker. “What’s up?”

“Someone jacked up Ellie’s car.”

Hayden bared her teeth. “How did they—”

August cut her off. “Hell if I know. Back tire was punctured. He cut the fuel line, too. Whoever did it was probably hoping she’d be stranded out in the middle of nowhere so he could grab her.”

“You get a scent?”

“Same guy from the trailer park.”

I started the truck and pulled out onto Main. “You back at the house?”

“Yeah. Ellie’s not real happy at the moment. Brody told her we think there’s someone stalking Hayden, that this mystery guy could be after her, too, and she pretty much lost it. He’s trying to talk her down now.”

“Stay there. We’re on our way.”

Twenty minutes later we were rattling over the cattle guard onto my parents’ property. The sprawling two-story ranch house sat at the top of a rise overlooking Hill Country farmland as far as the eye could see. Hundred-year-old live oaks shaded white limestone walls and flagstone patios during the hot Texas summers. My mom’s pale blue plumbago and indigo-headed salvias sprawled out beneath the windows, bobbing in the wind as a squall line of dark gray thunderheads built off to the west.

The moment I set the parking brake, Hayden bolted from the car, rushing to meet Ellie. They collided in a fierce hug.

“I was so worried.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Ellie cut a glare my way, strip-searching Hayden with her eyes like she was expecting to find her covered in bruises.

“Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”

“Um—"

“Violet,” I supplied, which earned me glare number two. Apparently, I was supposed to be looking for a shovel for self-burial purposes. “She has panic attacks when we leave her alone.”

Which, I was pretty sure wasn’t really a thing. But wouldn’t you know, Ellie immediately wiped her eyes, glancing behind me to the truck. I was one step above pond scum. But it had taken her two seconds to bond with a fictional dog with panic attacks. Because, of course.

“Where is she?”

Total. Genius.